Aaliyah Duah never learned about money in her own public schools. She had not even heard the term financial literacy until she started teaching herself about investing, according to Chalkbeat. Now she has won a major prize for teaching it. On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Duah was named one of five winners of the 2026 David Prize, according to the official David Prize winners page. The award gives $200,000 with no strings attached.
She won for Financial Revolutionn, a program that teaches young people about money. Chalkbeat says she started it as a sophomore at Virginia State University during the pandemic. She is now 23. Her workshops reach students at more than 30 schools across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx, Chalkbeat reports. She uses everyday examples like Roblox, sneakers, bacon-egg-and-cheeses, and Apple iPhones to teach about credit cards, interest, and retirement accounts.
Duah says the real problem is access to information. She grew up in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. She told Chalkbeat that early access to money information was a major difference between that community and richer ones. "I realized that I couldn't just share this information with my closest friends, I needed to share this message with the world," she said.
Her work comes as New York adds money lessons to schools. Chalkbeat reports that, starting this year, the state is requiring students in grades 5 through 12 to learn about budgeting and money management. Next year, students in grades K through 4 must learn personal finance too.
The David Prize began in 2020, Chalkbeat reports. The Walentas Family Foundation launched it. It supports people trying to make a difference across the city's five boroughs. Chalkbeat calls it the city's version of the MacArthur "genius" grants.
Duah is also releasing a coloring and activity book called My Financial ABC's, according to Chalkbeat. It is made to help children ages 3 to 8 learn basic money terms.